


Little thoughts

by ScriptaManent



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adjusting To A New Country, California, Honestly this is just the boys caring for each other, M/M, Presents, Short & Sweet, They're each other's home and I'm soft okay, implied mutual pining, tokens of affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29353869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScriptaManent/pseuds/ScriptaManent
Summary: California wasn't exactly the most welcoming place, at first, but if Iwaizumi couldn't go home, pieces of home would come to him.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33





	Little thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> I dug up a short idea from my Big Folder and decided to give it a try for the [ALWY zine contest](https://twitter.com/iwaoilifezine/status/1352070877823700993). Iwaoi adjusting to Argentina/California is something that can be so personal, I hope you'll like it! ♡

Iwaizumi rolled on his side and reached for his phone, stifling a yawn between clenched teeth. The screen flashed white, blinding him, before obnoxious figures appeared. 

3:04 am.

He closed his eyes again, groaning. In the room below his, the music pulsed loudly. Laughs resonated, voices rose, indifferent to his torments.

He had heard of the American dream all of his adolescence. He hadn’t expected it to turn into an American nightmare so quickly.

After only one week in California, Iwaizumi was already nostalgic of his peaceful nights back in Sendai. He could sleep, back then, but in his barely insulated student flat, right above the party room, sleep was no more than a pipe dream.

He kicked the blanket away and forced himself to relax. The bass pounded through the walls, resonating in his mattress. He bid Morpheus farewell with a resigned sigh and grabbed his phone again.

He hadn’t typed two words before Oikawa’s messages started flooding in, a mix of greeting and scolding peppered with a fair amount of emojis. Iwaizumi barely read them, the familiarity was enough to make him feel better.

He woke up the next day with a headache and no memory of falling asleep. He didn’t know when the music had stopped or when his exhaustion had gotten the better of him, but now another trial was waiting for him: university.

How people managed to throw parties and go to early morning classes was a mystery to the poor Japanese student but he had no other choice than facing reality.

He dragged himself to class, a full pot of pure black coffee in his veins that was far from his usual healthy diet, and miraculously managed to take notes that made sense.

* * *

“Iwa-chan, you sound like someone who hasn’t slept in weeks,” Oikawa pointed out on the phone two days later, an ounce of chiding in his voice.

“Probably because I haven’t slept in weeks,” Iwaizumi grunted, pinching the bridge of his nose as he let his head drop against the wall behind him.

His neighbours kept keeping him awake at night and his English wasn’t good enough yet for him to argue with drunk native speakers. He could speak and read quite well but when it came to understanding their accent, it was a whole other skill he needed to work on.

The silence stretched on the line, until Oikawa spoke again.

“Iwa-chan?”

Iwaizumi could imagine his best friend beside him, eyes narrowed, studying him with an intensity that was hard to deal with for anybody other than Iwaizumi.

“Not to be sappy but you know I miss you, right?” Oikawa continued, his tone even.

And yet... yet Iwaizumi could feel the weight of the words on the other’s tongue. They sank in, slithered around Iwaizumi’s heart until they wrapped it in a warm embrace.

He scoffed lightly, a short laugh.

“What prompted this, Shittykawa? Isn’t it a bit early for you to be so cheesy?”

“I just thought you needed to hear it.”

Another straight shot, an arrow going right through him. Oikawa never missed. He was too smart to be fooled.

Iwaizumi let out another laugh, resigned. His gaze drifted to the photos pinned to his wall, the few personal things he had brought with him overseas.

There was an old family one from the Iwaizumis’ holidays in Nara back when he was five. They had gone hiking a lot and he had loved every second of it.

There was one of their volleyball team during a school festival. Kunimi had gone missing after only half an hour. Kyoutani had tried to escape but Iwaizumi had been quick to call him out.

Finally, there was a candid shot of Iwaizumi and Oikawa taken by Tooru’s sister during the last match they had won together. The teal hue of their jerseys looked dull in comparison with the brightness of their smiles.

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi eventually breathed into the phone. “I miss you too.”

His eyes remained on the wall, detailing every photograph. Oikawa was in all of the pictures, just like he had been with Iwaizumi during all of his life.

* * *

Days followed each other, each one nibbling away at Iwaizumi’s sanity. He knew that it would get better, that he would eventually get along with people and that he would get used to the noise at night, but he was aware that it would take time and that his adjustment period might last another few weeks.

He was getting ready for sports tryouts he had been eyeing when a knock on the door surprised him. Iwaizumi stumbled away from his backpack, knocking over a pile of books in the process, swallowed a bunch of colourful swear words, and finally reached the door.

It opened to a man barely older than him whom he had already seen a few times in the corridors.

“Hi, I’m Matt. You’re Haji… Um…” the guy stuttered, his cheeks taking a darker shade as he failed to pronounce Iwaizumi’s name.

The other cracked a smile.

“Hajime, yeah.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to pronounce that…” Matt trailed off before his eyes lit up suddenly. “Anyway, I’ve received this package for you earlier! And, um, I’m just two doors away so if you ever need anything…”

Matt shrugged, holding out a box the size of a dictionary. He peeked at the inside of Iwaizumi’s messy flat and raised an eyebrow at him.

“There’s been a storm in there?”

“I was in a rush and I have to admit I’m a bit sleep-deprived,” Iwaizumi admitted, a sheepish smile on his face. “The party room is just below and it’s all I can hear at night.”

He saw the exact moment when realisation hit his neighbor. Matt’s eyes widened, filled with horror, and he let out a gasp as he stared at the dark circles under Iwaizumi’s eyes.

“Oh my— We didn’t think—” (Iwaizumi’s smile twitched.) “We’ll tune it down! Sorry, Haji! A-Also, I couldn’t help but notice… Are you going to the volleyball tryouts?” Matt asked, pointing at the pair of sneakers poking out of the other’s bag.

Stars sparkled in Iwaizumi’s eyes and for the first time since he had landed in the foreign country, he felt like the gears of his life were falling back into place.

Iwaizumi forgot about the package for the rest of the day, busy impressing people in all the sports he showed up at. Matt stuck around, jaw dropping in admiration at the confidence that radiated from the foreign student every time he stepped onto a court.

It was only when Iwaizumi went back to his dorm late in the evening that he found the box lying on his bed.

He traced the dark lines of his name on the address, written in a handwriting he would have recognized anywhere, although a bit wobbly — the kanjis below were neater, steady from a lifetime of being written over and over again.

A whiff of affection washed over Iwaizumi, something that was yet to be named and was still more real than anything else, a piece of the puzzle that made him who he was.

He carefully sliced the tape that protected the package, only to find a stupid amount of paper in the box — knowing Oikawa the package could very well have been a box full of paper, just to annoy him.

Nonetheless, when Iwaizumi dug in, his hand hit the corner of a smaller box. As soon as he saw what it was, he took his phone out of his pocket and pressed the speed dial touch. Oikawa picked up on the first ring.

“How?” was all that Iwaizumi said.

No greetings, they didn’t need any after so many years.

“ _ Oh _ , so it has arrived!”

Oikawa was beaming, his joy and pride audible.

He kept on rambling, bragging, and all the while Iwaizumi couldn’t take his eyes off the very limited Godzilla figure that the other had sent him. It was one that had sold out almost a decade ago, one that Iwaizumi had never managed to get his hands on.

Taped to its box was a tag the size of a credit card. It was all white, the only touches of colour were Oikawa’s signature doodle in teal ink, along with a note that read “ _ Just a reminder that I’m the best friend you’ll ever hav _ e.” 

* * *

Iwaizumi closed the door of his flat with a satisfied nod, his eyes lingering on the figure he had settled on the shelf in front of his bed. For the first time he had been able to get a full night of sleep and he didn’t doubt that Matt was the reason behind it — one of them, at least.

He was refreshed, determined to make the best out of his experience abroad.

Iwaizumi stepped into the classroom in the middle of unknown faces. He checked his phone one last time, rolling his eyes at the flow of messages Oikawa had sent him during the night.

Beside the screen, the scribbled tag stood out on the black phone case. It was a piece of home, a sappy good luck charm that Oikawa should never, under any circumstances, ever hear of.

It was one that Iwaizumi would make sure to always keep on him.

A piece of home. A lucky charm. A reminder.

A promise.


End file.
